Creator: Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis, Stuart Lane
Starring: Noel Fielding, Hugh Bonneville, Ellie White, Tamsin Greig, Asim Chaudry, Joe Wilkinson
Production Company: Big Talk Productions
Kent Locations Used: Bygone Farm, Chiddingstone, Fort Amherst, Penshurst, High Rocks
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (2024) is a six-part comedy series following lovable rogue Dick Turpin who unwillingly becomes head of a band of outlaws intent on outwitting the corrupt lawman Jonathan Wilde.
Production visited various locations in Kent to film for the medieval series. Bygone Farm doubles for Dick’s hometown of Hempstead in Essex throughout the series. Other locations featured include the picturesque village of Chiddingstone, Fort Amherst, Leicester Square in Penshurst village and High Rocks.
Built in medieval style, Bygone Farm is an extraordinary farm location and a perfect double for an ancient medieval farm of village. The farm features a courtyard, oak barn, traditional farmhouse, stables, and 50 acres of rolling parkland. There are also various vintage farm tools, machinery and farmyard props available including an old plough, oak barrels and a traditional horse cart.
Chiddingstone is one of the oldest and most picturesque villages in Kent. A beautiful example of a Tudor one-street village, over 70% of the buildings are more than 200 years old and many feature half-timbered sides, gables and stone-hung red-tiled roofs. Previous productions to have filmed in the village include, A Room With a View (1986) and The Larkins (2021-2022).
Built during Napoleonic times to defend Medway from a land-based attack, Fort Amherst consists of two run-down period outbuildings, cannons, defensive ditches, dressed period guard quarters, and atmospheric underground tunnels. Recent productions to have filmed there include The Witcher Series 3 (2023), The Nevers (2021) and Darkest Hour (2018).
Once a Stone Age camp, the High Rocks are magnificent sandstone rocks interlinked with bridges in a tranquil woodland setting. Situated within the High Rocks complex there are four oak beam function rooms, each with its own bar and dance floor. Britannia Series 3 (2021) filmed at the High Rocks.
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (2024) will release on Apple TV+ on Friday 1st March 2024.
Writer: Lucia Keskin
Starring: Lucia Keskin, Selin Hizli, Daniel Fearn, Jamie Bisping, Martha Cope, Darren Strange
Production Company: Roughcut Television, BBC3
Kent Locations Used: Ramsgate, Margate, Bugsy’s Ten Pin Bowling Centre, Nayland Rock Hotel, Broadstairs
Things You Should Have Done (2024) follows Chi, a self-titled stay-at-home daughter, who finds her laidback lifestyle thrown into turmoil when both of her parents die and she discovers she will only inherit their house once she completes a list of things she should have done.
Located on the seafront between Margate and Cliftonville, Bugsy’s Ten Pin Bowling Centre offers 12-lanes as well as a diner, bar area and amusement arcade. It is also the only ten-pin bowling shop in Thanet.
Director / Writer: Neil Maskell Starring: Jenna Coleman, Tom Burke, Amit Shah, Roger Evans, Sura Dohnke Production Company: MarVista Entertainment, Erebus Pictures Kent Locations Used: Tunbridge Wells, Teise and Coffee in Lamberhurst
The couple are joined by Chris and Glynn, two ex-army close protection security guards, contracted to protect the pair from dangerous forces determined to stop them from sharing their story. As they wait in the secluded house for the journalist coming to interview them, the unlikely foursome share personal histories and connect with each other in surprising ways.
Written and directed by Neil Maskell (Bull (2021), Level Up (2016)) in his directorial debut, Klokkenluider – which means ‘whistleblower’ in Dutch – is a blackly comic, character‑driven political thriller that will shock and entertain.
During filming, production visited Tunbridge Wells to film short scenes in Claremont Gardens and Town Hill Road. Production also filmed at Teise and Coffee café in Lamberhurst, which doubles for a patisserie in Belgium.
Set in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Tunbridge Wells is an historic spa town that offers a mix of independent shops and restaurants set alongside the colonnaded Pantiles and the picturesque High Street. The area is renowned for its period houses and gardens and has been a place of interest for over 400 years. Recently Britannia Series 3 (2021) and This Way Up Season 2 (2021) TV series filmed here.
Klokkenluider (2023) will be releasing in select UK cinemas on Friday 1st September 2023.
Starring: Jessica Ransom, Tom Stourton, James McNicholas, Emily Lloyd-Saini
Production Company: Lion Television
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Allington Castle, Ightham Mote
First premiering in 2009, the CBBC’s children’s TV programme Horrible Histories (2009-2023) is back for its tenth series. Based on the novels by Terry Deary, Horrible Histories is packed full of bloody battles and black humour; informing and entertaining young audiences with comedic historical sketches.
Production have visited Kent various times for Series 8, 9 and 10.
For Series 8, production visited The Historic Dockyard Chatham, where they filmed a Queen Victoria as well as a Suffragettes sketch in the Ropery; Napoleonic and Georgian scenes at the Officer’s Terrace and the Commissioner’s House; various scenes for the Home Front episode at the Old Pay Office and HMS Ocelot, which doubled briefly as a Swedish submarine.
Allington Castle was also used in Series 8 for various medieval sketches, as well as in garden scenes featuring Madame Pomapadour and the English Romantic Poets.
For Series 9, production returned to The Historic Dockyard Chatham. The Tarred Yarn Store features as the interior of a factory, the Ropery and Anchor Wharf double as Victorian streets, and the Officer’s Terrace doubles as a Georgian street.
Allington Castle once again provide the setting for the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, plus the Royal Mint, an ancient Grecian market, the Palace of King Charles VI in France, a medieval hall, and a spooky castle.
The Historic Dockyard Chatham features in Series 10, with filming taking place in The Tarred Yarn Store, the Georgian Terrace and on the Ropery streets. Allington Castle also features throughout Series 10, including as the Tower of London, the Vatican and William the Conqueror’s castle. In Episode 4, Ightham Mote appears in a Made in Chelsea parody sketch about King James I, as well as in various gunpowder plot sketches.
Built nearly 700 years ago, Ightham Mote has seen many changes and been owned by medieval knights, courtiers to Henry VIII and high-society Victorians. Highlights include the picturesque courtyard, formal gardens, great hall, Grade I listed dog kennel and the library of the American businessman Charles Henry Robinson. Making Noise Quietly (2019) filmed on the grounds of Ightham Mote.
The eighth series of Horrible Histories aired on CBBC from 3rd June 2019. Episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
The Christmas special of Series 9 aired on CBBC on Friday 10th December 2021, with the rest of the series following in 2022.
Series 10 began airing on CBBC with a Father’s Day special on Friday 16th June 2023, with the rest of the series following intermittently. All episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Creator: Tony McNamara Starring: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Gwilym Lee, Sacha Dhawan Production Company: Thruline Entertainment, Echo Lake Entertainment, Lewellen Pictures, MRC Television, Macgowan Films Kent Locations Used: Hever Castle, St Clere Estate, Botany Bay, Cobham Wood, The Historic Dockyard Chatham
The Great (2020-2023), a satirical comedy from American streaming company Hulu, follows the infamous rise of Prussian-born Catherine the Great as she ascends to become the longest serving female ruler in Russian history. Forced to choose between her own personal happiness and the future of an empire, she abandons a life of love and romance and vows to change a country plagued by deceit and ruin.
Series 3 sees Catherine and Peter attempt to make their marriage work after a very rocky start. But with Peter haunted by visions of his late grandfather, Peter The Great (Jason Isaacs), will he stay content as mere First Husband to Catherine the Great for long?
Production visited various locations in Kent for Series 1, 2 and 3.
In Series 1 Episode 8, the Italian Loggia on Hever Castle lake doubles as an Eastern European house where Peter III of Russia (Nicholas Hoult) and Catherine (Elle Fanning) meet the Swedish King Hugo (Freddie Fox) and Queen Agnes (Grace Molony). The Loggia reappears in Series 2 Episode 1 as the house in which Peter and his confidantes Grigor (Gwilym Lee) and Georgina (Charity Wakefield) hide out from Catherine’s army.
The fields of St Clere Estate in Sevenoaks were used to stage battle scenes in Series 1 Episodes 5 and 7. The location returned in Series 2 Episode 1 as Catherine’s army’s base camp. St Clere also reappears in Series 3 Episodes 6 and 8 as an army camp on the Russia / Sweden border and the frozen lake where one key character meets an unexpected end.
Botany Bay in Broadstairs features in a dream sequence in Series 2 Episode 10, where Catherine images Peter eating a whale on the beach.
Cobham Wood appears briefly in Series 3 Episode 6, as Catherine and Grigor ride in a carriage through the woods. The Tarred Yarn Store at The Historic Dockyard Chatham also features in Series 3 Episode 5, doubling as the interior of a town hall where Pugachev (Nicholas Hoult) incites the peasants against Catherine.
Hever Castle is an outstanding 13th century and Tudor castle with a moat, stunning Italianate gardens, a beautiful lake, as well as a mock Tudor Village. It was the original home of the Boleyn family. Productions that filmed here include Inkheart (2008) and The Third Day (2020).
St Clere Estate is set in 2800 acres of the rolling Kent countryside and offers stunning views of the North Downs. Some of the ground’s features include formal gardens, paddocks, a meadow, fields, an orangery, green houses and a temple by the lake. St Clere Estate has previously been used to film Road Games (2016) and Sky’s original series Gangs of London (2020-2022).
Cobham Wood is a vast woodland park containing an array of vegetation and landscapes. The park is home to the Darnley Mausoleum; built in the 18th Century as the final resting place for the Darnley family, it remains unused.
A historic 17th Century Dockyard spanning over 80 acres, Chatham Dockyard contains over 100 buildings dating from the Georgian and Victorian periods. One of the most popular filming locations in Kent, recent productions to have filmed on the site include A Spy Among Friends (2022), Enola Holmes 2 (2022), and Series 3 of Jerk (2023).
Series 3 of The Great will be released on Lionsgate+ on Friday 14th July 2023 and the series is currently available to stream on StarzPlay and All4.
Director: Ellie Heydon
Starring: Lily Allen, Freema Agyeman, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Gabby Best, Frances Barber, Kiell Smith-Bynoe
Production Company: Merman
Kent Locations Used: Margate, Dreamland Margate, Margate Winter Gardens, Westbrook Bay
Set in the seaside town of Margate, Dreamland (2023) follows Trish, who is expecting her third child and is desperate for a baby girl. Supported by younger sisters Clare and Leila, her mum and legend Nan, the family’s world is thrown upside down upon the return of sister Mel.
The series is set in Margate, and production made use of many locations in the seaside town. Margate Main Sands and Tidal Pool feature in Episodes 1 & 2 and the King’s Steps feature in Episode 3. Margate Harbour Arm features in Episodes 2 & 3 in a dramatic scene between Mel and Spence. The exterior of Trish’s dream fixer-upper home was filmed on Dalby Road. Various other roads feature in the series, including Marine Terrace, Marine Drive, Ethelbert Road, Palm Bay Avenue, Northdown Road and Princess Margaret Avenue. Westbrook Bay features in Episode 1, and Margate Lido appears in both Episode 4 & 5.
Dalby Café in Margate appears in Episode 2, where Trish and Spence discuss buying a house together. The Old Kent Market features in Episode 3, Margate Winter Gardens in Episode 4, Cinque Ports Restaurant in Episode 5, and Sands Hotel in Episode 6.
In Episode 2, Mel and Trish take Trish’s children for a day out to Dreamland. The children ride on the Chairoplane, Helter Skelter, Dodgems and skate at the Roller Disco. The Hall of Mirrors is the site of a confrontation between Mel and Spence, and the Dreamland car park is where Leila crashes her car and meets London hipster Dom (Hugh Coles).
Margate is a seaside town complete with sandy beach, harbour, amusement park, period housing and ultra-modern art gallery Turner Contemporary. It is a very popular filming location, having been the setting for Sam Mendes’ ninth film Empire of Light (2023), as well as many others.
Considered to be the oldest-surviving amusement park in Great Britain, Dreamland dates back to the early 1860s and was revamped in 2017. The park has a Roller Room, vintage arcades, a fully restored Grade II listed Art Deco ballroom and beautiful rides dating from 1920 to the present day. Recent productions to have filmed at the park include Series 4 of Killing Eve (2018-2022), Series 2 of Whitstable Pearl (2021-2022) and Two Weeks to Live (2020).
The Margate Winter Gardens date all the way back to 1911, and the building itself is a fine example of Edwardian architecture. The building is currently closed to the public.
Dreamland (2023) launched on Sky Atlantic and NOWTV on Thursday 6th April 2023.
Writer / Creator: Simon Nye Starring: Bradley Walsh, Joanna Scanlan, Sabrina Bartlett (Series 1), Joelle Rae (Series 2) Tok Stephen, Peter Davidson Production Company: Objective Fiction, Genial Productions Kent Locations Used: Viking Bay and Victoria Gardens – Broadstairs, Eynsford, Faversham, Stonepitts PYO Farm, Sundridge, Squerryes Court, Walpole Bay Hotel & Museum, Underriver, Chiddingstone, various undisclosed villages and farms in North Kent, Tonbridge Castle, Leigh, Sackville School, Canterbury prison
Series 2 sees a new family settle in the picturesque village, and they soon find themselves at war with the Larkins. Also joining the new townspeople is Reverend Candy (Maxim Ays (Sanditon, Still So Awkward)), whose handsome face immediately sets Primrose’s heart aflutter.
During filming of Series 1 and 2, as well as the 2021 Christmas Special, production filmed on various farms and villages in North Kent for the setting of the family farm and village.
Series 1
In Episode 3, Victoria Gardens and Viking Bay in Broadstairs feature when Ma and Pop Larkin go on a holiday to Margate. Faversham town and the Guild Hall feature in the same episode as Margate town and the Registry Office, where Ma and Pop rescue a runaway bride. The Walpole Bay Hotel & Museum in Margate also features in Episode 3 as the Margate Grand Hotel where Ma and Pop stay.
Eynsford village features in various episodes throughout this series. Eynsford Riverside appears in Episodes 1 and 2 as the Littlechurch river, Eynsford Village Hall appears in Episode 5 as the Littlechurch village hall where the locals vote on Tom’s plans for the village, and The Castle Hotel appears in Episode 2 during the pram race. The Five Bells Pub in Eynsford also appears in Episodes 2, 3 and 6 as the local village pub.
The Larkins enjoy strawberry picking in Episodes 4 and 5, and these scenes were filmed at Stonepitts Farm near Sevenoaks. Filming also took place at Long Barn in Sundridge, which became Seth’s Cottage in Episode 6, and Squerryes Court in Westerham became Bluff Court in Episodes 2 and 6, and the interior of Reg’s guesthouse in Episode 2.
The 2021 Christmas Special saw the return of various locations from the previous series, and featured some new sites including the Underriver Village Hall where the locals rehearse their festive pantomime, a private residence in Underriver which featured as the Norman’s home, and a private cottage in Chiddingstone which featured as the Nunn’s cottage
Series 2
As well as the welcome return of Squerryes Court as Bluff Court and Underriver village hall, Series 2 features some new Kent locations, including several in Tonbridge.
Sackville School features as Fordington Prison’s visiting area, and Tonbridge Castle and the river behind it also appear, doubling as the exterior of the Mid Kent Times Office. A private estate in Leigh in Sevenoaks appears in the series as the interior of the Chand’s bungalow, the interior of the Mid Kent Times Office and the exterior of Lady Violet’s (Prue Clarke) cottage. Canterbury Prison also features in Series 2 as Fordington Prison.
Broadstairs in East Kent is a picturesque coastal town with several beautiful beaches, restaurants, bars and walking trails which provide visitors with a real Kentish seaside town experience. Victoria Gardens has stunning clifftop views of Viking Bay and Louisa Bay. Broadstairs and Viking Bay has welcomed productions including Breeders Series 2 (2021), Devils (2021) and Hurricane (2018).
The Walpole Bay Hotel & Museum in Margate was built for discerning guests in 1914 and extended in 1927. The hotel has five floors and 42 bedrooms and a museum space. The décor and layout is versatile to suit many eras and the hotel provides cast and crew accommodation and on road parking in a quiet cul-de-sac. Margate is a traditional seaside town complete with sandy beach, harbour, amusement park, period housing and modern art gallery Turner Contemporary. Recent productions to film in Margate are Whitstable Pearl (2021-2022), Two Weeks to Live (2020) and Pandemonium (2020).
Located on the River Darent, Eynsford has some distinctive features including its viaduct, ford and ancient ruins and is part of the Sevenoaks district. Stonepitts Farm sits at the foot of the North Downs in Seal, near Sevenoaks, with magnificent views over the beautiful Vale of Holmesdale that has been a local landmark for hundreds of years.
Squerryes Court in Westerham is a beautiful 17th century manor house which has been the Warde family home since 1731. It is surrounded by 20 acres of attractive and historic gardens which include a lake, restored parterres and an 18th century dovecote. Westerham is a very busy village on a through road near Sevenoaks. Recent productions to film in the Sevenoaks district include The Cleaner (2021) and The First Team (2020).
Chiddingstone is one of the oldest and most picturesque villages in Kent. It’s described as the most accurate example of a surviving Tudor village in the county, complete with half-timbered frames, gables and stone hung red-tiled roofs. Previous productions to have filmed in Chiddingstone include A Room with a View (1986) and The Wind in the Willows (1996).
Tonbridge is a riverside town with picturesque castle, churches and historic buildings. Tonbridge Castle was built at the time of the Norman conquest and in 1741, stone from the towers, walls and keep were used in the building of the Medway canal. Other productions to have filmed in Tonbridge include PRU (2022), Making Noise Quietly (2019) and Missing (2009-2010).
Now owned by Canterbury Christ Church University, the former Canterbury prison has wings with closed cells dating back to 1808. It is a popular filming location, with previous productions such as Deceit (2021), Small Axe (2020) and Break (2020) having filmed there.
The Larkins Series 1 began airing on ITV on Sunday 10th October. All episodes are available to stream on ITV Hub as well as the Christmas Special which first aired on ITV on Saturday 25th December 2021 at 9pm.
Series 2 of The Larkins began airing on ITV on Sunday 16th October 2022.
Creators: Nathaniel Stevens, Alex Tenenbaum
Starring: Nkechi Simms, Michael Boahen, Jaye Eservas, Pia Somersby, Tom Moutchi
Production Company: Fully Focused Productions
Kent Locations Used: Blue Bell Hill, Carroty Wood Nature Reserve, The George and Dragon Pub – Tonbridge
PRU (2022) is a BBC Three four-part comedy series about a group of 15-year-old teenagers stuck in the Pupil Referral Unit, a school for excluded kids. Each episode is told through the eyes of the four teenagers as they struggle to navigate the world of adolescence.
Blue Bell Hill is a stunning nature reserve located in Aylesford, with panoramic views across the Weald. Aylesford is a picturesque village located on the banks of the River Medway and complete with a Norman Church and Victorian houses. Previous productions to shoot in Aylesford include Half a Sixpence (1967) and Rustom (2016).
Writer / Creator: Lucy Gaymer, Sian Robins-Grace Starring: Michelle de Swarte, Sinéad Cusack, Isy Suttie, Shvorne Marks, Amber Grappy Production Company: HBO, Proverbial Pictures, Sister Pictures, Sky Kent Locations Used: Botany Bay, Acacia Sports Hall in Dartford, Nell’s Café, Ramsgate Harbour Approach Tunnel, St Andrew’s Lake and Watersports Centre in Halling, The Quadrangle in Sevenoaks
The Baby (2022) is a horror comedy series about 38-year-old Natasha who is furious that all her friends are having babies. When she is unexpectedly landed with one of her own, her life is thrown into turmoil. She doesn’t want a baby. But the baby definitely wants her.
The Ramsgate Harbour Approach Tunnel is the approach road to Port of Ramsgate. The tunnel is over 800m long and about 9.5 metres wide. Because this is an alternative approach to the Harbour, this road and tunnel may be controlled during agreed periods. Previous productions to have made use of this include Hard Sun (2018) and The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016).
The Acacia Sports Hall in Dartford is a large sports hall and is part of a multi-use site that includes a manor and several outbuildings with ample parking. The Sports Hall is perfect for set building and storage with a ceiling height of over 20m. Recently opened as a build space for productions, The Baby is the first to make use of the facilities.
Situated between the River Medway and Pilgrims Way, St Andrews Lake in Halling is a unique 70-acre blue lake in a former chalk quarry with a total area of 122 acres of mixed woodland and a small lagoon area. From the Watersports Centre, you can hire a kayak, paddle board or a sailing boat.
The Quadrangle is a large Victorian farmstead built in 1870 in the Darent Valley, near Shoreham Village. The site features a grand lofty hay barn (15m x 8.5 m), converted Granary, stables, a holiday cottage, an orchard, and access to the River Darent for swimming and boating.
The Baby was released on NowTV on Sunday 24th April 2022.
